At Asian Security Meeting, Russian and Iranian Criticize the U.S.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Aug. 16 — Iran used the meeting of a regional security organization here on Thursday to lash out at American plans for a missile defense shield, while President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia took an indirect swipe at what he calls Washington’s unilateral foreign policy.

Speaking at the one-day annual summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran said the planned defense system, to be based in Eastern Europe, was “a threat to more than one country,” asserting that it would affect “a large part of Asia and S.C.O. members.”

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, established six years ago, brings together Russia and China, as well as the former Soviet republics of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, under the banner of combating terrorism and fostering regional collaboration. Iran has observer status in the group.

This week the group is conducting joint military exercises in Chelyabinsk, Russia, involving more than 6,000 troops.

Beyond its security aspect, the organization has provided a forum for criticism of United States policies. At its 2005 meeting in Kazakhstan, members demanded that Washington provide a timetable for ending its military presence in Central Asia.

Without mentioning the United States directly, Mr. Putin called for a “multipolar” world order, in line with his frequent criticisms of what he considers the Bush administration’s unilateral foreign policies. “Any attempts to solve global and regional problems unilaterally are hopeless,” he said.

A joint statement at the conference’s end said that “modern challenges and security threats can only be effectively countered through united efforts of the international community.”

Analysts say the group hopes to become a counterweight to Western influence in the energy-rich and increasingly strategic Central Asian countries.

What unites the group’s countries “are genuine common concerns about security, about border issues and about trade and energy,” said Michael Hall, a Central Asia expert formerly with the International Crisis Group in Bishkek. “There is a certain sense of wanting to let the U.S. know that they’re a force to be reckoned with.”

Russia and China are eager to secure Central Asia’s considerable energy reserves for their own use, and Russia wants to maintain pre-eminence in a region it has long considered within its traditional sphere of influence.

This week, officials at the China National Petroleum Corporation announced that China and Turkmenistan, the second-largest gas producer in the former Soviet Union, would form working groups to help supply China with 30 billion cubic meters of gas annually over 30 years.

Moscow has locked up long-term gas supply contracts with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in an effort to replenish its dwindling supplies, and it recently reached an agreement to pipe Turkmen gas through Russia.

The pipeline deal in particular was considered a commercial coup and a setback to the United States, which hopes to ship Turkmenistan’s gas across the Caspian Sea to European markets.

A version of this article appears in print on , on page A5 of the New York edition with the headline: At Asian Security Meeting, Putin and Iranian Criticize the U.S. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe